Rey stared out in to the vastness of The Tundra. It was intimidating, frightening even. Snow as far as the eye could see, but the twist was that the eye couldn't see far at all. Visibility was all but limited with the blowing snow that encompassed everything around them. Their only certainty was that they needed to go north, and for the moment they knew exactly where that was. Takoa took the lead and began trudging through the snow. Rey and the others soon followed.

As he began to walk Rey did something he rarely ever did: He prayed. Prayed that they would survive this trek, prayed that whatever was out there they could handle it. And most importantly, Rey prayed that his training was enough for the task ahead, and that he didn't make a fatal mistake.

A week previous Rey told Takoa that he was only going to give him a week to train him in Waterbending. He couldn't give him any more time, especially with the news that something was happening in the Fire Nation. Takoa agreed and they started the training almost immediately.

They started in his home and worked on the healing techniques first. Rey was grateful for this because with all the fights they had gotten into over their journey a healer would've been great to have. Not surprisingly this technique was not hard to learn or master. It simply took patience and a willingness to heal the wound and to let the wound be healed. Once he had it down, Rey took the time to fix all the wounds that he and the others had accumulated that hadn't been fully healed yet. Everyone was grateful that they didn't have to look at the marks on their bodies anymore.

After a few hours, and a small snack to replenish their energy, Takoa took Rey and the others outside the North Pole for some training in the water and snow. Before they began, Takoa explained to Rey what would be necessary for him to connect with the water in order to bend it.

"Water is fluid, ever changing," said Takoa, "the beauty of Waterbending is that you can bend it to your will better than any other element."

"I do pretty cool things with earth." stated Rey with a smirk

"Earth can shift Rey, but water can bend and transform."

"Fair enough."

"Now, look out into the ocean Rey. I want you to feel the water, feel its movements, its pace. Water may look still, but it is always moving. The tides, the currents, even the creatures that live in the water cause it to move and change direction. When you truly feel that, you will be allowed to bend it. Reach out and try to create a sphere of water."

Rey took a deep breath and calmed himself. Similar to what he did when he tried to Airbend. He reached out both hands towards the ocean and tried to raise a sphere.

Nothing.

Rey didn't stop though, he knew it might take a while. He tried to remember how he got Airbending to work so well, and then he remembered seeing the air currents and decided to try and do the same. But instead of seeing anything, Rey began to hear the water. He began to hear the waves crash against the shore. He could sense the ebbs and flows of the water as it went in and out. It was rhythmic, and beautiful. Feeling the flow he reached out again, and to his amazement he felt the water start to move. He kept his cool, and within a few seconds an orb of water rose out of the ocean and stood a couple of feet in the air. Rey opened his eyes to see his handiwork and smiled as he saw the orb.

Content he slowly lowered it back into the water and broke the hold. He turned to Takoa and saw him smiling, he began to clap.

"Most impressive Rey. Impressive indeed. Now do it again, but quicker."

Confused at the request, but willing to do it again, Rey turned to the water and focused again. He was able to raise the water again, but in half the time it took before. Takoa was again impressed but again asked him to do it quicker. For the next hour Rey practiced on his connection with the water and raising the sphere out of the water. Sometimes Takoa would ask him to make the sphere smaller, or bigger, or do two or three, but in the end it was all about speed. When Takoa said he could stop Rey fell to the ground, he was tired from standing in that same position for so long.

"I'm hoping there was point to this." he said as he rubbed his legs

"Yes, there was. I had to harden your technique for summoning the water. They say people have to do certain things a certain amount of times to get it hardwired into their heads. In some cases it's referred to as muscle memory, in our case it's more like bending memory."

"To what end?"

"See for yourself. Don't get up, stretch one arm out and try to raise the water."

Rey was skeptical but did what Takoa asked. He stretched out his left arm and did a gentle flick of his wrist and from the ocean came instantly a sphere of water. Rey was shocked, and with the lightest of movements he made the sphere dance. Once done he cut the connection and the sphere splashed back into the water.

"Wow." he said still shocked

"Ta-da." replied Takoa, "Now you know exactly what you need to do Waterbending. Your connection was the important part, now it's all about bending it to your will. And that just so happens to be the next lesson. Get up, we have work to do."

For the rest of the day Rey, with the guidance of Takoa, began to truly learn Waterbending. At first they just worked with the sphere and Rey was taught to bend it into different shapes and objects.

"If all else fails remember the basics." said Takoa during the lesson, "Sometimes the simplest methods are the most effective. I know you know that Rey, but it's always good to remember."

They practiced hard into the night until Rey was literally exhausted and couldn't bend anymore. Takoa invited them all back to his house for rest and food.

The next day focused on the attack styles of Waterbending. Instead of summoning spheres Rey was instructed to summon strands of water to become a whip. This was one of the techniques Rey wanted to learn the most. It was quick, effective, and devastating if done right...which took a while to get down. Consistently Rey's whips went all over, sometimes even coming close to hurting Ena, Raya, and Swift. But Rey stayed focused and within a short amount of time he had the whip doing exactly what he wanted.

Takoa taught Rey a few more of attack moves before going straight into more advanced techniques. Rey was taught how to summon columns of water, and shown how to create waves and control them. Rey had fun with this one and actually created a wave that was so tall it would've hit the others if he didn't stop it just feet short. They weren't amused, especially Raya, but he couldn't stop laughing.

Day Three they shifted to the real challenge of snow and ice. This was the crucial test as The Tundra would have it everywhere and Rey was to fight he would need to know how to bend it.

"Snow is just like water," Takoa stated to Rey, "it's just colder and more physical. Use that to your advantage. You may think it's sad to attack someone with a snowball for instance..."

Takoa bent down and rolled up a good sized snowball. Once done he stood back up and began tossing it into the air and catching it.

"Harmless, yes? But to the the unsuspecting...."

Without warning he threw the snowball and it clocked Raya in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" she shouted at him

"No reason, just wanted to prove a point."

"Next time do it to Ena!"

"I'll think about it. Anyway use the physicality of snow to your advantage. But not just as an attack, use it as defense. People weren't meant to walk on snow, that's why we have vehicles that can go through it, or we make shoes that allows us to walk on it, it makes it easier. Take those away and they're forced into a disadvantage."

Takoa began to teach Rey to wield the element of snow, and to his surprise Rey learned it faster than water. By the end of the day Rey knew and basically mastered several techniques to bend the snow to his will. Both in attack and in defense he was prepared. As a final lesson Takoa mentioned a trick that the Avatar could do.

"Being that water is your final element, you actually have a trick up your sleeve you may not know about."

"Which is?" asked Rey curious

"With your Firebending you can melt the snow into water. This can be useful if you need to do some quick healing, or you're just in need of water. And knowing you, I think you might find another way of using it."

As they rested that night Rey went over all the techniques in his head. He had to stay vigilant and remember everything he had been taught.

Day Four was all about ice training. More specifically the transforming of water into ice.

"Basically you have to harden the water, but you have to feel it in your soul. It's not just about clenching a fist or something it's about focusing on the element and making it something else. Once you do that the possibilities can be endless on what you can do."

Rey began doing exactly that. At first he simply just tried to will the water to become ice, but he quickly found out that wouldn't work. He began to think, what would make it freeze? What thought would allow his soul to steel up? The answer was immediate: The Conspiracy. He wouldn't let them win, and to free the spirit that was there he needed to learn to make ice.

He then raised a column of water and focused on it with the thought of The Conspiracy winning clear in his mind. With a motion and small roar the water turned to ice and spread out to the shoreline. Rey smiled as he saw what he did. Takoa was amazed at what he had done and had him do it again. Rey happily obliged and as he did he observed that the ice continued to grow as he repeated it.

Content with the progress Takoa then taught Rey how to wield the ice in battle. From using it as a brace, to using it for attacks, the instructions were varied and vast. But to give Rey a little fun he allowed him to try and create his own technique. Rey pondered what would he want to do with the ice and then it hit him: make a weapon.

Rey reached out towards the water and pulled out a whip of water and brought it towards him. Now in front of him he began to spin it and form it to his desired shape. When the shape was close to what he wanted he froze it. Though it wasn't perfect, far from it at that, you could tell it was a sword. He tried it a few times, and after a while he was content with the result. Rey made a mental note of what the shape of the sword looked like in the water so that he could make it quickly. The rest of the time was spent teaching Rey how to bend the ice in different ways.

The day came to an end and Takoa informed Rey that this was as far as he could get with Takoa's help without spending more time on it. When asked what the next three days were going to be about Takoa simply stated: "Preparing you for The Tundra."

Days Five and Six had them fulfilling Takoa's promise. All of them, meaning Rey, Raya, and Ena, were taught how to fight in the harsh climates of The Tundra.

They started off in one-on-one matches using their various bending techniques. Rey was forced to use Waterbending as it was the reason they were here. The hardest part of the battles was the moving in the snow. It was deep, and every step seemed to take a lot of effort.

Takoa taught them how to overcome this in various ways. He told Ena to us her Airbending as a buffer between her and the snow so that she could walk on it freely. Though it took some getting used to, Ena was soon able to walk on top of the snowpack. Raya's technique was to simply let her body melt the snow. Takoa showed her that by channeling the fire on the inside of her body she could melt the snow as she passed through it making it easier to get across.

Finally, Rey learned an interesting technique from Takoa on how to move in the snow. It was to let the snow move him. If he focused hard enough he could bend the snow to rise up and move with him. Some balancing issues aside it was an effective technique.

A few hours after starting they were all ready for snow travel and began to use this during their battle training. Though still a challenge, especially balancing multiple techniques at once, they were getting much better at it.

Once the sixth day concluded they were all very confident about being ready for The Tundra.

Day Seven was pure preparation. They made sure they had all the supplies, all the gear, the clothing, everything that they would need for their trek through the snow. At Takoa's instruction they were told to go over everything they learned and make sure they had it down. Once they were in, they couldn't go back until they were done.

Rey glided along the snow and came back to focus on what was happening. They were in The Tundra, there was no turning back now.

The blizzard like atmosphere was already taking its toll on them. Their clothing was getting pelted by snow and the small ice chunks that was apparently mixed in with it. And though the clothes were holding up, they were all getting cold. Even Raya, whose heat technique was melting the snow, was shivering. You could tell she wasn't doing it all the time to preserve her energy. The only one who didn't seem to be affected too much was Swift, but even Rey wondered how much this was affecting him.

Takoa wordlessly led them further and further north in search of the spirit. They all believed it was trapped in some kind of ice column that the people talked about back at the tribe, but no one could be certain. They also couldn't be certain about who might be waiting for them up there. Rumors about people leaving and not coming back was already warning enough, but with the weather, any tracks that might have been made would be gone in minutes.

Ever alert they continued onward, the snow ever pounding, never ceasing. Forward, towards their destination.

Rey had never been in anything like this, the blinding snow, the sense of being lost and not being able to find your way back. It was...scary. Swift picked up on this.

"You are worried?" he asked him

"I'm afraid I led us into a deathtrap. The only question is what will kill us first, the snow or the people waiting for us." Rey replied grimly

"So you do believe there is someone at the spirit?"

"Without a doubt. We haven't exactly been subtle in where we've been, and for all the things The Conspiracy is, one thing they aren't is stupid. One of them would've guessed we'd be here. Be ready."

"I've been scanning since we've arrived, the snow for whatever reason however is blocking my vision."

"Interesting."

For an hour they trekked through the snow. Never talking, never complaining, just moving. Suddenly Swift spoke out.

"We're close." he said to all of them, "I can sense the spirits energy. It's that way."

Without another word Swift took point, and soon a mass began to form in the distance. As they grew close they knew something was wrong, but they didn't know what until they grew closer. Before them was a giant ice block, but what was around it was what had them baffled. As if a barrier had formed in front of them they noticed that all around the ice block there was no storm. It was still. They couldn't explain it, Rey went to the edge of the invisible barrier and reached out across it. The moment his hand left he could feel the snow hitting it, but inside...it was fine.

"What the heck?" said Rey

"It's the spirit." said Ena amazed as she approached the ice block, "It must've created a barrier to protect itself somehow, so that the snow couldn't bury it and thus be lost forever."

They all followed Rey into the barrier, and as they approached the ice block they were truly shocked at how big it was. It towered over them. And though they couldn't see what, it was clear that something was in there.

"What do you think it is?" asked Raya

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you..." said a female voice from behind them

Rey and the others turned and to their horror saw an all too familiar face: Kamaria.

"What? No hello?" She asked with an insincere smile

"I'd rather say goodbye." replied Rey

Kamaria laughed, "Wouldn't we all? Especially to you Rey, you've caused us a lot of trouble since you escaped. Me personally? I had to dodge some very unfortunate accusations that stemmed from a newspaper article. I managed to dodge the bullet, but it was still too close for comfort. Tell me Rey, did you have something to do with that?"

"Maybe."

"Of course you did, well it doesn't matter. After I take you in all will be forgiven and we can move on. I have to admit you're a cool kid Rey, very intelligent, very resourceful, but you are on the wrong side. Pity."

"The only pity is that this is necessary in the first place. Trapping, draining, and killing the spirits? Did you really think no one would resist? That even if the Avatar didn't appear that someone wouldn't take up the cause? The spirits are needed in this world, and I'm going to make sure they stay here."

Kamaria shook her head in disappointment and looked at Rey with almost sympathetic eyes.

"Oh Rey, do you hear yourself? You are clearly the product of old-world thinking. Me? I'm a product of new-world thinking. I had to fight for what I had, work hard and earn it. Despite what Jonn said at our little 'get together', I was in line to be an ambassador to my people, the others just sped up the process a little. Every one of us believe that to make it in this world you can only rely on yourself and those that follow your orders. We don't need to pray and worship spirits that only show up when they feel like it."

Swift began to growl. Kamaria laughed.

"Oh did I anger the spirit? Well it's true, you only show up when it's convenient for you. Where were you in the hundred year war? Why did let your brethren attack us when your walls began to fall? Hmm? Exactly, you don't have an answer. But we do. We're going to show the world that we can live without the burden of the spirits and without the watchful eye of the Avatar. It'll be a new age."

"Yeah, one with you in control."

"And why not us? Why not the ones who have the worlds best interest at heart? It needs a guiding hand, it needs us!"

"Not if we can help it." replied Rey powerfully "The world is in a bad place Kamaria, I'll give you that. We've abandoned what made us great before. Our sense of honor and duty to one another, we've forgotten that everyone deserves to live right, not the just the ones who can afford it. I've seen the slums in the cities, the people who are cast aside, and I'm going to fix it. I will. But not your way. Your way is far worse, you're tricking the people into thinking you have their interests at heart, but that's not true. You just want what's best for you. And as long as I'm alive I'll stop you."

Kamaria just stared at him for a while, as if trying to determine what made him this way, what made him so driven in his convictions. Then she made a sound of impatience.

"Fine. Have it your way. I was kind of hoping you'd join us, but I realize now that was folly. Oh well, we'll do this the hard way."

She raised her arm and snapped her fingers. From all around them beings began to emerge from the snow. Soon they were surrounded by thirty men all with weapons.

"Oh no," said Ena suddenly afraid, "it's the ice wizards."

"Who?" asked Raya getting ready for battle

"They're one of the special groups of the guild. They're literally made for snow and ice traveling...and killing. They move as if the snow isn't there. Apparently it takes years to master the techniques they use to do so."

"Oh yes, it's true." said Kamaria arrogantly, "These boys come from Jonn Hithan with his love and displeasure of your continued existence. You see he had to take a lump on the head for letting you go and telling you the plan so he really wants to get you now. He figured you'd be up here so he asked them to help me protect the spirit. They were up here to kill you Takoa, but he thought it would be better to keep you alive. What a guy."

Rey looked around at his opponents, they were all just waiting, staring at them, waiting for the order to be given. They didn't have to wait long.

With blinding quickness the assassins rushed towards the five of them.

"Split up!" Rey shouted and they all darted out towards different directions to fight their opponents

Rey went straight for Kamaria, they had unfinished business that needed to be settled. Before he could get to her he was stopped by two of the assassins. Each of them wielded swords that slashed at Rey. He dodged one of them, but the other cut him on the upper arm he fell to the ground in pain. It was pretty clear these assassins were fast, and good.

Ena and Raya teamed up to take on a group of the assassins. They fought back-to-back and used their techniques to try and throw the enemies off-balance. To their surprise the assassins were able to dodge them at every turn. No matter what attack they did they had a counter for it. Soon they were fighting closer range and were constantly dodging attacks from their weapons. But as good as they were they couldn't dodge them all, and found themselves knocked to the ground.

Takoa, who was best equipped for battles like this, took the fight right to the assassins. He bended the snow to his will and made it lunge at the assassins and trapped them beneath its cold embrace. He then pulled out an urn and retrieved the water that was in it. With the water now out Takoa made it dance before he whipped at each of the assassins in turn. They jumped or dodged every time he did. He was impressed at how well they were moving, it reminded him of the technique he taught Ena. Refocused, he saw two of them coming towards him, their weapons raised high in an attack position. Takoa recalled the water and made a rope that he threw it at their ankles, it wrapped around them and he made it freeze. The two assassins collapsed to the ground beaten.

Swift chased the assassins around the area and dared them to fight him. They responded by trying to blindside the spirit, Swift dodged though and rammed into the assassin taking him out of the fight. More assassins converged on him, most likely because he was the biggest threat outside of Rey, and attacked Swift mercilessly in response. Needing some room to maneuver he jumped over his foes and landed on a cleared area of snow. The assassins charged, Swift thinking quickly decided to use the ice block as leverage and used it as the bouncing point for his ricochet attack. Back and forth he went until his foes disbanded.

Back on his feet, Rey unleashed his fury on his opponents. Using the elements of fire, water, and air he attempted to blast his foes away. But again their speed was impressive. Though some were hit, many others dodged and began to swarm Rey with attacks. Remembering Takoa's teaching he raised the snow around his body and made it form a cocoon protecting him. When he felt the assassins attack try and cut through he shot the snow out in all directions, knocking out all who were in range.

The girls got back into the battle as well and decided to get creative. Ena raised up her air tornado and used it to carve out a trench in the snow. Raya then filled it with fire until it formed a nice ring which she raised into the air, and once Ena was clear she made it go out in all directions. Those that dodged were caught by Ena who was waiting for them. One by one they each got blasted by her gales.

The battle went back and forth between the two forces. The assassins refused to give up, and continuously charged without hesitation. Though at a disadvantage in the beginning, the battle turned to Rey and the others favor as they got used to the environment and who they were up against. The blinding speed of the assassins was soon meet by their creativity of attacks, along with their teamwork.

Soon the battle became a standstill with no side gaining an advantage. Kamaria called her forces back to a safe distance. Rey with the others gathered around the ice block and waited for the next attack to begin.

"Jonn was right, you are impressive. I honestly thought I had you with these boys. Oh well." said Kamaria with false encouragement

"So you give up?" asked Rey who was panting heavily

"Gosh no, I just know now that I need to call the reinforcements."

She put her fingers up to her lips and whistled long and loud. At first nothing seemed to be happening but then from outside the barrier figures began to appear. There were many, almost as many as the assassins. To Rey's surprise though they weren't assassins, they were Waterbenders.

Kamaria smiled, "Yeah, you see I do appreciate what Jonn did and these boys are great. But sometimes you just need that little something extra. So, I called in a few favors and had some very loyal friends of mine join me out here in case things got out of hand. And that would be now."

Rey and the others tensed up, it was hard enough taking them on with just the assassins, but now with Waterbenders? They were in trouble.

"Get them."

With renewed vigor they attacked. Again Rey and the others split up to fight them. But it was all too clear that this time they were at a true disadvantage. Every time they tried to fight one specific group or person the other would come to their aid and catch them off guard. It was impossible to think of a plan when the attacks were coming from two totally different opponents with totally different styles.

Though still teamed up Raya and Ena soon found themselves in trouble. The Waterbenders singled out Raya and dissipated all of her attacks as she launched them, all but making her useless. Ena was forced to pick up the slack, but with Raya out of the picture for backup she faced double the opponents from last time and soon fell to their onslaught.

Swift too was having a hard time with his foes. His speed was put to the test as he dodged numerous attacks from all sides. Swift tried to build up energy for an attack, but before he could an enemy would be on him and break his concentration. The one time he did get his spirit howl off it didn't disperse all of them and it allowed the Waterbenders to attack and trap Swift in ice. He fell to the ground with a thud.

Rey and Takoa took a page from the girls book and teamed up. With the others down the remaining assassins and Waterbenders converged on them. Refusing to give up they released a medley of attacks on them. They sent waves of snow at them forcing a minor retreat. Rey melted some of the snow and raised the freshly made water at them at them in a variety of ice attacks. Takoa followed the same suit and summoned numerous water whips and lashed out at all of them in kind.

They kept the attacks going as long as possible, but soon they were tired, and their enemies were still raring to go. Eventually they couldn't do anymore and were beaten down and thrown back at the ice block.

With all five down Kamaria called back her forces once again.

"Well Rey? You give up? You finally ready to surrender?" she said with an evil smile

Rey was panting heavily, he was exhausted, Swift was still frozen so they couldn't merge. Between his exhaustion and the fact that his body was now freezing he couldn't focus and go into the Avatar State. But he was still willing to fight. With a small smile he rolled up a snowball and began to toss it up and down like Takoa did.

"Yeah," answered Rey, "But it's not the snowball I'd be worried about, it's what I do with it."

With some of his remaining energy Rey threw the snowball at Kamaria's face, shortly after he sent a fire dart at it. The fire hit the snowball causing it to melt instantly and become boiling water. Kamaria put her hands in front of her face to protect herself, she screamed as the water scalded her hands. She fell to the ground and put her hands into the snow to ease the pain. Then she quickly drew water to heal them fully.

Not amused she stood back up and roared at Rey, "I should've known you would've done something like that. Mezrin's eyebrows still haven't healed after that dragon breath you gave him. No more games, we end this now. Men! Finish them!"

Slowly they marched towards Rey and the others. They all tried to get up to fight but were too hurt to do so.

"I'm sorry guys," said Rey apologetically, "I didn't mean for it to end this way."

"We're not done yet Rey." said Ena reassuringly as she tried to get up

Rey looked up, the answer was right there, the spirit. Rey reached out and touched the ice block and quickly tried to connect with the spirit. He felt his body being pulled away but then it stopped. A voice in his head came through:

"We'll talk later, you need help now."

Now back, he noticed that the assassins and Waterbenders had stopped moving. They were staring at the ice block. Rey looked and saw it begin to glow. Then a crack formed, then another, then another. Soon the entire block was riddled with cracks and it suddenly shattered. Now free everyone could see what was inside.

It was a mammoth, and a big one at that.

The mammoth had thick brown fur and tusks that reached out over ten feet long. The spirit roared with intensity and stepped over Rey and the others and rushed towards their foes. The mammoth was fast for being such a big creature, it swung its head and the tusks crashed into all of the enemies in the way. The Waterbenders tried to fight back, but the mammoth simply reared on its hind legs then stomped on the ground with its forward ones. This caused the snow to rush out at them and blasted them full force.

Kamaria called her forces together for a unified attack...big mistake. Now all together the mammoth let loose a roar much like Swift's spirit howl. But this one was backed up by the power of the snow and it slowly turned them all into snow covered statues, ending the battle.

With one final roar the mammoth proclaimed its victory and its freedom.

Now over, the mammoth turned to Rey and the others and checked upon them. Rey had already begun healing Raya, Ena, and Takoa. Swift meanwhile had finally freed himself from the ice.

"Are you alright Avatar?" asked the spirit

"Yes. Thanks to you."

"I am alright thanks to you, I believe we are even now Avatar."

"I'm fine with that. But please, call me Rey."

"Very well, I am Oamun, roamer of The Tundra."

"Nice to meet you Oamun."

Swift stepped forward, "You look well brother."

"As well as I can be for being trapped in ice for that long."

"Yes, what happened?"

"Those fools came for me that's what. They believed that my size would mean boundless energy for their plans. I fought bravely, but that cursed seal trapped me here, fortunately I had just enough energy left to surround myself in the block of ice so no one could touch me."

"And the barrier?"

"I wanted to make sure someone could find me, The Tundra would've buried me in days otherwise."

"Told you." said Ena happily

Oamun laughed then returned focus to Rey, "So what now? Where shall you go next now that I am free?"

Rey looked at Raya who nodded with confidence, "We're long overdue for a trip to the Fire Nation. Something is going on there, we need to stop it before this escalates even further."

"Agreed, but be warned, there is a serious darkness lurking there. Three of my fellow spirits are there and I can sense their pain even from here. They are being used for nefarious purposes, they must be freed. But they aren't the only things I sense there. Be careful Avatar."

"Thank you Oamun I will."

"Rey we need to head back to the Northern Water Tribe and tell them what happened." said Takoa, "We can use what happened to our advantage, if we show up with Kamaria alongside the Assassins Guild we can brand her as part of The Conspiracy no problem."

"True. But how do we convince them that we weren't aligned with them?"

"I'll take care of that." said Oamun

"What?"

"I know it was a long way to get here, and since you freed me I think the least I can do is give you a ride back. Bring the female Waterbender and one of the assassins. They might doubt your word Avatar, but arrive with me and they won't."

"Cool. Who wants to ride on the mammoth?"

"We do!" shouted Raya and Ena eagerly

"I will walk alongside." said Swift simply

"Fine." acknowledged Rey, "Let's go everyone."

With an effort, and help from Oamun, they tied up Kamaria and two of the assassins and loaded them onto the spirit. Then Rey, Raya, Takoa, and Ena got on top of the mammoth as well.

"What about the others?" asked Ena looking back

"They'll be fine, they got here on there own, they can leave on their own." said Rey with steel

With a roar Oamun began walking towards the Northern Water Tribe. After a while the spirit addressed Rey.

"I bet this is pretty weird for you, eh Rey?"

"After everything that's happened in my life Oamun? This isn't even top 5."

*credits*

Chapter 11 Preview: The Biggest Fight in Spirit of Earth so far! Who's it against? Wouldn't you like to know! Click here and you can find out!

A place of mystery and wonder. A land where survival was hard, but proven to be possible. The people of the Water Tribe had lived at the North Pole for countless generations. Their determination to live in these harsh conditions showed the rest of the world just how strong the are. And that's not even mentioning their bending skills. Between the water that surrounded them, and the snow underneath their feet, the North Pole turned one of the Waterbender's greatest disadvantages on its head. It was here where they were strongest. That's why it was their home.

Rey watched from the side of the boat as the outline of The North Pole came into view. He knew he had to come here, but the reason he was here now was different than what he intended. He knew there was a spirit being held north of the main city, and was simply going to go and free it before moving on. That was all before he met Cherena, the gopher spirit told Rey that he needed to learn Waterbending to be complete and to be able to use the Avatar State at will. Though he didn't want to do it, he begrudgingly agreed to and made way straight for the North Pole.

The trip to get to this point was a little harder than expected. Rey wanted to use a less obvious approach due to the fact that he was still wanted for murder. They had to take a boat to get to the North Pole, but using a passenger ship would be risky. He needed a boat that would carry his bike and four passengers so speedboats were out. Rey and the crew spent the better part of a day looking for a ship that would grant them passage. Finally near sundown they met a man who was happy to help as long as they didn't mind helping him as deckhands for no pay. The happily agreed.

They spent the night at the dock, and the early morning making sure the ship was ready to go and that everything of importance was secure. Once everything was done and accounted for they set off towards the North Pole. It was a long trip, fortunately their work as deckhands kept them busy. They basically went around the ship to make sure everything was functioning properly. The ship was a hand-crafted steamer so it required looking after. Rey admired the ingenuity of the captain, the girls just didn't want to sink.

Once they were an hour away the captain gave them permission to relax and enjoy the view. Rey took him up on his offer and went to the side of the boat and saw the North Pole slowly coming into view.

"I hate the cold." said a voice behind him

Rey turned around to see Raya joining him on the rail.

"You're a Firebender, you should be mocking the cold." said Rey, surprised at the statement

"Firebending only gets you so far." she replied, "Yeah, you can make a fire, but it takes a while to warm you up. And if you're in a blizzard? Forget it."

"Point taken. Still, we got warm jackets and clothing which will keep us alive, all the while keeping us looking different than we usually do."

"I hate wearing disguises."

"I know, why is that exactly?"

She looked at him with a determination he was used to seeing in her. He couldn't help but smile at seeing it once again.

"I love who I am. I am the daughter of a respected Firebender, who was also a great father. I am a skilled Firebender in my own right, and I've proven it over and over again. The outfit I wear was made especially for me, as a symbol of who I am. It is one of a kind."

"Just like you." said Rey

Raya smiled and nodded, "Yes, and I have worn it proudly for years. When I wear a disguise, I feel like I'm hiding more than just my appearance. I'm hiding my pride, my honor, and everything I hold dear."

"I can understand that."

Raya looked out at the North Pole, it was getting closer, a breeze passed by and it made her shiver.

"I hate wearing disguises...but in this case I'll make an exception."

"I thought you might."

"So what's the plan once we get there?" asked Ena as she walked up to join them, Swift following close behind

"Well...." said Rey contemplating a true plan, "If I'm going to find a master to teach me Waterbending I obviously have to go inside the city to find a true member of the Water Tribe. The problem is not sticking out. Our clothes will help, but once they notice our skin color we'll become more recognizable, and much more memorable. And being that we know one member of The Conspiracy is from here, and could possibly be here, we need to be extra careful."

"What do you suggest?" asked Swift

Rey went quiet and just stared out at the ocean. They had to do this right.

"Ok, once we arrive we'll drive the bike to the outskirts of the city and make sure they don't see us. Once we do, Raya, Ena, you two will go and politely ask where we can find a Waterbending master."

"What if they ask who the student is?" asked Raya

"Say your brother just found out he's a Waterbender and wants to start learning immediately. Sound embarrassed when you talk about him, it'll make you more believable."

Raya laughed but Ena had another thought.

"As you know there are different kinds of masters. Some teach basics, some teach attacks, and in the Waterbenders case there are healing masters. If they ask for what kind of master we're looking for what do we say?"

This question made Rey think, what should they ask for? Though he agreed to learn Waterbending he still didn't want to take too long to learn it. Every day in training meant another day that the world could be put in more danger. So...what was more important?

Confident in his decision Rey replied, "Tell them we want a healing master, if none are there ask for a basics master."

"Why that order?" wondered Raya

"I don't want to be here longer than I have to, if I can learn healing in a few days and be off I'll be thrilled. To be honest, I'd rather just learn healing than learn Waterbending at all. Nothing against the element, I just don't want to waste time. It took me a while to be confident with both Firebending and Airbending, I don't have time to do that now."

"If you're sure..." started Ena, a little hesitant to his attitude

"I'm sure." replied Rey bluntly, as he looked back out he noticed that the were much closer to the North Pole than before, "Grab your stuff, we'll be there soon. Let's make this quick and get out."

They arrived at the North Pole a few miles out from the Water Tribe. The captain said that the place they landed was near a really good fishing spot. Rey and the others thanked the captain for his help and then got the bike off the boat and made their way to the Water Tribe.

Despite the snow being rough and compacted the bike handled it very well. The tires had no trouble going over or through the snow as they traveled. They went slow as to not draw to much attention but were soon at a place where they could hide the bike and be in good walking distance to the city.

Now in the appropriate attire, Ena and Raya were ready to go down and enter the city.

"Be careful you two." said Rey sincerely yet cautiously, "No unnecessary theatrics. Get in, find a master, ask him to train me, come back when you find one that accepts."

"Not to be the dark cloud or anything, but what if the masters we meet are all against you? For all we know they could all be loyal to The Conspiracy." noted Raya

Rey hadn't thought of this, he honestly only thought that Kamaria was the only one from the Northern Water Tribe who was part of The Conspiracy. Looking back, it was a stupid thought.

"Your right. Ok when asking the master about his teachings offhandedly mention me. See how they react. If they say they want to capture me then decline their services, if they say they don't believe what's been said, ask them why, and if you think their answer is genuine then accept."

"This is getting trickier by the minute."

"Nothing worth doing is easy." said Ena

"Exactly," agreed Rey, "just stick to the plan, lay low and you should be fine. Good luck."

With a nod the two put on their hoods and began their trek to the Northern Water Tribe. The snow was deep so it hindered their progress, but slowly yet surely they made it. The city was surrounded by a giant ice wall so there was only one entrance to go in from. The two had never been to the North Pole so they were both impressed by the size and scale of the city. All the houses and building seemed to be made by the purest snow and ice. It was magnificent.

As they walked towards the city both had questions as to what Rey was doing. Ena was the first to speak out about it.

"Do you agree with what Rey is doing?" she asked Raya

"No. I don't like being bait." Raya answered curtly

"That's not what I mean. I mean do you agree with his position on Waterbending? You know, he only wants to learn healing and not bother with the rest."

"Oh that. Yeah I'm totally cool with it."

"You are?"

"Absolutely."

"Why?"

"Because honestly it is a waste of time, especially given what's happened recently."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning?!" asked Raya flabbergasted as she stopped in the middle of the street, "Have you lost your memory? We've spent the last who knows how long trying to find and rescue the spirits. That's the mission. Free them, hinder The Conspiracy, and then take them head on. There is no doubt in my mind that they know what we're doing. Which means that they'll probably pick up the pace with whatever their plan is. That's bad. And thus the more time we waste here is more time for them to implement their plan while we're not ready."

"It is when you're being counted on to do something else. Besides he's great with three elements, why need four?"

"Because he's the Avatar. He needs all four elements. And to counter your point, if he is as good with learning water as he was with learning the rest it won't take long at all."

Raya looked around and pulled Ena to the side of a street to not draw attention. She looked at her sternly.

"That's the thing Ena, he didn't learn those elements quickly. He became a master of earth in eight years. To be fair, he probably could've been a master a lot sooner, but it was some rite of passage or something that caused him to be bestowed with that then. And I'm pretty sure he said Graham didn't just teach him Earthbending, so his training was no doubt extended. Fire took him weeks just to get the basics because of how screwed up he was in the head. Only after did he get fixed was he able to make progress, and yet it was still slow. Air was definitely easiest, but that was because of Rey's nature. He's calm and collected so it didn't take him long to learn it but I saw you train him for a while before he started using Airbending in battle. Rey doesn't want to risk having another roadblock on the way to learning an element. If he does, we're in trouble, and he knows that. He probably figures that healing is the easiest trick in the Waterbending book and thus won't take long to learn and master."

Ena sighed after Raya was done. She had a few points good points. Especially about The Conspiracy, and she couldn't deny that she wanted to help out the spirits as soon as possible. Still, something bothered her about Rey speeding through his training. Maybe it was because of her heritage, or maybe she felt that Waterbending was somehow going to be very important going forward. Either way she still had unease in her heart, but she didn't mention it to Raya. With a nod of relenting, both her and Raya began walking down the street once more.

The two eventually made their way to a marketing area. There were numerous shops and stores selling a variety of items and trinkets. Raya and Ena looked around to see if they could locate a sign or message stating a Waterbending master. There wasn't one to be found. They continued to search but found themselves wandering in circles. Eventually they became frustrated.

"You'd think," stated Raya, clearly very annoyed, "that with all the advancement in technology someone would make a sign saying "Waterbending Master This Way!"

"You'd think." agreed Ena with a smile

"You two looking for a master?" said a voice

They both spun around to see a man smiling at them. He was clearly a member of the tribe, and had an air of leadership about him. When he didn't do anything after his question the girls relaxed and answered.

"Yes we are." replied Raya, adopting a more calm and sincere posture

"Our brother found out he can Waterbend and wants to be taught immediately. He's very...adamant about it." said Ena with fake embarrassment at the end

The man laughed, "Ah, that kind of brother huh? Well when you're eager to learn it usually comes at cost of everyone's sanity."

"Tell me about it." agreed Raya playing along

"As it so happens there are multiple masters here. Is there one in particular you're looking for?"

The two looked at each other and nodded to signal they would play along with Rey's plan.

"Well...to make it easier on our parents we'd really like to teach him the healing techniques first. That way he can learn control and respect with his powers...or at the very least be able to heal someone when he screws up."

Another laugh came from the man, this one much louder, "Yes, I can definitely see your point in that. As it so happens we have a great healer right down the street and to the left. He only returned a month ago from a long journey, but is more than willing to help all who ask for it."

"Thank you very much." Ena said with a bow

"You're very welcome, I hope to see you around with your brother some time, he sounds like an interesting character."

"You have no idea." replied Raya as she bowed in thanks and then left down the street with Ena

"Well that worked out well." said Ena

"A little too well, but for now let's find that master."

A little ways down the street was a small house. On the outside it looked nothing special. The girls looked at each other in confusion. A great master lived here? With a shrug Raya knocked on the door, it was better to just get it over with.

"Come in." said a male voice from inside

They looked at each other and made sure no one was paying attention to them outside, then carefully went in. The house was just as unremarkable inside as it was outside. It only had the basic creature comforts: a bed, a light, a table, and several basins filled with water. Raya especially was perplexed as she looked around, this was nothing like the temple she lived in back home.

Ena however was focused on the man who was sitting on the far side of the house and apparently working on something. His back was to them and thus hadn't looked at them yet. Ena closed the door to signal that they were inside, the man still didn't turn around.

"How may I help you?" he asked politely

Ena spoke first, "We are told you are a great healer, we are need of your assistance."

"I see. Is someone you know hurt?"

"No." stated Raya, "We have a brother who wishes to learn Waterbending but he's...a little too eager, and thus we wish him to learn healing first to calm him down and keep him safe."

The healer laughed, "Yes...I hear that all too often. Many believe that Waterbending is all water whips and ice attacks but healing is a most...most..."

The healer stopped and seemed to be in deep thought. The girls suddenly became very uneasy. They both eyed the door ready to leave.

He slightly turned his head and spoke, "That voice...Raya?"

The healer turned around and for the first time fully looked at them. Raya's jawed dropped.

"Takoa?"

"Raya." said Takoa and he ran over and hugged her, after which he held her at arms length, "I can't believe you're here. Wait, what are you doing here? Where's Rey? Is he alright?"

"He's fine, he's fine. He's the 'brother' we were talking about. He needed to learn Waterbending and said healing was the best way for him to go under the circumstances."

"Circumstances are far worse than you might realize, we need to bring him here. But I can't do it."

"Why not?"

"I'll explain later. Go get Rey and bring him here quickly, tell him I'll definitely train him but we have to talk first. Make sure no one, no one, can see his face. Understand?"

"Ok. Let's go Ena."

"Be careful!" Takoa said as they left

"Who was that?" asked Ena extremely curious and worried

"That's Takoa, he's a healer that lived nearby my fathers temple in the Fire Nation. He was the one who healed me and Rey after our little wars, and he got us closer to being friends. I have no idea why he's here though, or what's got him so worried. Let's grab Rey and find out."

"Ok."

They quickly, yet casually, left the city and headed out towards Rey's location. To their amazement Rey was asleep in the snow when they arrived. Swift was on lookout duty. The girls looked at each other not knowing what to make of this. Eventually Raya just decided to cut out the middleman and kicked him in the side. Rey woke with a start.

"Ow!." he shouted and then noticed the girls were hanging over him, "Was that necessary?"

"No." said Raya simply, "But it was fun."

"You do know you're not supposed to sleep in the snow right? asked Ena

"Actually you're not supposed to sleep in the cold, cause that causes hypothermia which makes it hard to wake up. Sleeping in the snow is fine, and oddly relaxing. Besides, you two were taking forever, I needed to sleep. What'd you find?"

"Takoa." replied Raya

"Oh great.......wait WHAT? Takoa is here?"

"Oh yeah, and he wants to talk to you and quickly. Apparently we're worse off than we thought."

"Will do." said the spirit as they got up and made their way back to the city

Now all together they made sure to keep a low profile. It was hard, especially with Swift in tow but they managed to get by without too many looks. Rey personally made sure he didn't make eye contact with anyone. He did it as casually as he could, cause he knew that not making eye contact was suspicious in and of itself. After a little bit of detouring to throw off any curious people, Raya guided Rey towards Takoa's house. She knocked on the door and this time Takoa answered it to see who was there. He was relieved to see her and Rey and quickly ushered them in.

Once inside Takoa closed and locked the door. He then put a finger to his mouth to signal that they should be quiet. He reached inside the pocket of his overcoat and pulled out a small device. Takoa went all over the house with the device and appeared to be scanning for something. The device had a low hum throughout the process but didn't do anything else. Relieved at the lack of results Takoa put the device away and addressed them.

"I apologize for that." he said now sitting among them, "Things have been tense since I've returned here."

"Yeah no offense but why are you here Takoa?" asked Rey uncovering his face, "Why aren't you in the Fire Nation?"

"Because it's no longer safe for me there. After Fire Lord Zaron's assassination things went from bad to worse there. The new Fire Lord was ushered in within days of the death, and instantly began a campaign against you Rey. He asked the people to work together with the other races to find you and capture you."

"How'd they take it?"

"Some were for it, others were against it, and some didn't know what to think. I obviously knew better and began to spread word of how you were innocent. That...caused problems."

"I bet."

"Yes. It started off simple with a friendly missive from the Fire Lord to stop causing problems. Then it escalated to 'visits' by 'concerned citizens'. The more I talked the worse it got. Finally I realized they weren't going to stop pressuring me until I either quit or was thrown in prison for sedition or some trumped up charge. So I took the opportunity and left."

"Where'd you go?"

"I wandered around for a while. It was during that time that I read of your exploits. And that certain other people also believe you are innocent, a writer for instance particularly believes you're innocent."

"Vivian." Rey said with a smile, "Yeah, we're friends. I actually gave her information about what happened and what's happening in our world to write about and bring people's attention to what's going on."

"Wise move. But you have to do more. There are a lot of people who still don't believe you, and by extension your friend Vivian."

"We're doing our best Takoa."

"I know, I know." Takoa said consolingly, "Anyway after a while I figured that my best bet was to come here, I believed this place would be safe from the madness the world was going through...I was wrong."

"And I could've told you that. When I heard about Kamaria being promoted I was suspicious. But then I read an article about how all the ambassadors were part of this 'Conspiracy' and it made my hair stand on end."

"Ha, ha." laughed Takoa, but then went serious again, "Shortly after I arrived I began to notice I was being followed."

"And how did you know that?"

"You pick up things when you travel a lot. Regardless, I knew that whatever evil had gripped the Fire Nation was here as well. So I've been laying low, doing my healing, teaching, interacting with the townfolk and picking up any useful information. And I have heard some interesting things."

"I'd love to hear them."

"You will. After you tell me your story."

"I hate to cut you off from your story Rey," interjected Raya, who appeared impatient for some reason, "but Takoa please tell me more about what's happening back home."

Takoa looked at Rey and with a nod he let him tell his tale, "Things are not well in the Fire Nation. My...exile aside, there have been signs that something dark and treacherous is at hand there."

"Like what?"

"I've noticed that the factories are running longer and harder than ever, but they aren't making the usual things like metal and building materials, they're making something else."

"What?" asked Rey

"I don't know. They ship out whatever it is at night when no one is watching, and during the day the factories are heavily guarded. I wouldn't be surprised if the workers are either clueless about what they're making or are sworn to secrecy under severe penalty. Whatever is going on, I don't like it, and we should be afraid."

Rey went quiet as he contemplated the state of the Fire Nation. Ever since he left there had been no real news from there, the sole exception being the anointing of the new Fire Lord. All else was quiet. Maybe that was part of the plan, to draw attention away from the Fire Nation and what it was doing so no one would be suspicious. Rey had a dark idea of what he thought they were doing. He knew they had to get back to the Fire Nation and fast.

"What about my father? Do you know anything about what happened to him after we fled?" asked Raya, Rey looked at her and noticed that her face was as fearful as he'd ever seen it, she seemed to be almost dreading the answer as much as she needed to hear it

Takoa sighed and with sadness said, "I don't know. Honestly. He was captured by Mezrin, that much I'm sure. They paraded him to one of the prisons to show that he was a traitor. I tried to get to him, to talk to him, but before I could he was transferred somewhere else. I don't know where, but I know he has to be in the Fire Nation. I'm sorry Raya."

Raya didn't say anything, she had no words. The not knowing about her fathers fate seemed to tear herself apart. She went to a wall and pressed herself against it lost in thought. Rey knew he had to change the subject.

Rey explained in great detail what had happened. Much like he did with Graham he didn't hold back. Takoa took it all in with unnerving stillness, he simply didn't react at all. Once Rey was done Takoa remained still.

"My goodness," he finally said, "I knew there was something wrong in this world but not to this extent. This is horrifying. The death of all spirits? And doing it at the people's wish? Unbelievable."

"Believe it Takoa. This is getting ugly. Like I said, I've faced their handiwork. Multiple corrupted spirits that are both powerful and dangerous. The one in Siraquori was particularly tough."

"Yes I'm glad to here it wasn't destroyed."

"Well I couldn't have your home wrecked cause of me could I?"

Takoa looked at Rey curiously, "How did you know Siraquori was my home?"

Rey shrugged, "Lerin mentioned that they had a Waterbender healer there before, but that he left for the Fire Nation. And thus I thought of you, and it somehow felt right."

"Heh, yes well when this is all over I'll gladly return there. Which actually brings me to your purpose being here."

"We know there's a spirit here, and by here I mean out there, not in the city. The spirit fish are fine."

"I know they are. Ever since Aang's time the spirit fish have been protected vigorously. No one is allowed to see them up close, it's safer that way."

"After the moon going out I'm not surprised by your overprotection of the spirits." said Ena

"Indeed young lady. The death of the moon spirit almost wiped out our tribe, we were fortunate to get it back, we won't risk it again. As for another spirit residing here I may know what you're talking about. Rumors are circulating about a giant ice block out in the tundra..."

"The tundra?" asked Rey

"Yes, that's what they refer to the harsh area outside the city. It never stops snowing there, it constantly has blizzard and whiteout conditions. Only fools go out there, which actually reminds me that people have been spotted going out that way...and not coming back."

"At least they'll get buried." Raya said mockingly

"I'm not so sure. Apparently these people were prepared, properly dressed and supplied. There waiting for something...or someone."

"Me." said Rey convinced

"Most likely. If The Conspiracy believe that you are here, or even think that you are here, they probably have their people waiting around the block of ice in case you show up. They aren't going to let you take it without a fight."

"Then a fight is what they'll get. Let's go." replied Rey and made for the door, the others in tow

"No." said Takoa standing up and blocking the door, "You're not ready. The tundra is a deathtrap if you're not prepared, and you aren't Rey. You don't even know Waterbending, and you'll need to know it before even stepping foot outside this city."

"I don't have time for this."

"Make time Rey. This isn't one of your little wars with Raya. The people who are out there are probably fully trained assassins who are prepared for battle out there. Out there Rey there is no earth to bend, your fire will only help out in short range, and air is useless in those blistering winds if you don't know what you're doing. Your only option is Waterbending, and to that extent, learning to bend snow. If you can do that you might stand a chance. So if you want to go out there and save that spirit, then swallow your pride and let's get started."

Rey glared at Takoa, then looked at the others. One by one they all nodded in agreement to what he was saying. Deep down Rey knew he was right as well. But he also knew that his instincts were right, he couldn't waste a lot of time.

"Fine, I'll stay. But I'm letting you know right now, you have a week to train me."

"A week?" asked Takoa skeptically

"A week. I can't stay here, especially if they do know I'm here, that's putting you and everyone here in danger. I will do any exercise you deem prudent, I will learn any skill you feel is necessary, whether it'd be for healing or battle. But in one week I'm walking out into the tundra and I'm saving that spirit, with or without your help."

It was Takoa's turn to glare. But then he smiled and grunted.

"Fine. Let's get to work."

*credits*

Chapter 10 Preview: Rey goes to the Tundra. But what awaits him out there? And will he come back? Click here to see!

As Rey awoke he felt an odd calmness in him. Maybe it was because of the day off he had just had, or that because of that his stress level was significantly lower than it had been. Whatever it was, he liked it.

Rey had always been the kind of guy to keep his emotions and feelings bottled up, it was just who he was. It was Graham who taught him to talk with others about what was going on in his head and his heart, if for no other reason than to just get it out of his system. And talking with Raya, Ena, and Swift, and hearing their thoughts on what had happened to them recently really brought a sense of peace to Rey.

He looked around and saw it was another beautiful day. Though he was happy, Rey knew what he had to do today. It was time to get back to work.

Far away, a man in a hooded cloak walked down a dark hallway. His pace was fast, he wanted to get to the meeting as soon as possible. Many things had gone wrong recently, and many problems had not been solved yet. He was getting antsy, he knew the others were getting that way as well. They were close, so close, they had to do something about him. They had to do something about the Avatar and his allies. But what?

Finally the man reached the end of the hallway and knocked on the door. A slot near his eye-level opened and a voice from behind the door asked for a password. The man mumbled something and the slot closed. A distinctive clicking sound was heard and the door opened up.

As the man entered the dimly lit room he noticed that there were 12 men waiting for him, which was odd because one spot should have been vacant. He didn't say anything though, now was not the time. The man sat down and one of the other cloaked men spoke to him.

"Greetings brother. We apologize for the suddeness of this meeting and the...precations we had to take."

"No worries, the password was a nice touch by the way."

"A necessary thing, given what has happened recently. Now that we are complete once again let us turn to the topics at hand. Where should we start?"

The man from before made a sound of impatience, "It's obvious what's first. We need to discuss the Avatar, what are we going to do about..."

"Rey?"

"Yeah Raya?"

"You ready to go?"

"Yeah just a sec."

Rey had been stalling a little to get going. He really liked the plain they were on, and wished he could spend more time there. But he knew he had a mission to complete, and based on the coordinates they had he knew a spirit was not far from where they were. They had to free it, no matter what its feelings may be on humanity.

With everything packed up Rey and the others hopped on the bike and blasted down the plain. The wind was strong that day and it made Rey really have to hold on to control the bike. He looked over to see Swift also struggling with the wind, the wolfs fur was really flying as he ran. It made Rey smile.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and felt Raya lean in close to talk over the wind.

"Feeling better today?" she asked

"Yeah." he replied, "Much better."

"Good. Cause I'm sorry but, we can't do that again."

"I know, I know. But you can't deny that we needed it."

"Yeah we needed it, but now we have to go rescue a spirit."

"Exactly. I am curious though about..."

"What he knows." the man said, "What does he know? How much has he told others? We know he's not just working with his inner circle anymore. We've been attacked in the media, which is amazing to me since we're supposed to have had them all under our control."

One of the cloaked men cleared his throat to bring attention to himself, he then spoke, "This attack as you say is the work of one lone reporter. She believed that the Avatar was innocent beforehand, but didn't have any evidence to prove it. We believe that she met Rey and he gave her the evidence to go forward with her claim. Her articles sold out, which made all the newspapers want to print her columns for profits sake instead of adhering to our warnings. Greed it appears is stronger than fear."

"Than take them out and put our people in there."

"It would not work, in fact it would raise more suspicion. I say we let the articles run on, it'll serve as a distraction while we prepare."

"Have you read the articles? Especially the recent ones? That reporter is naming names now. It's not just the ones that Rey took down like Tyro and Wei Lun, she's mentioned the ambassadors, she's named Jonn Hithan and his assassins as part of our group, she's named me for pete sake! Now I'm facing scrutiny that wasn't even a thought before."

"And this worries you?"

"All it takes is a spark to start a revolution. We made the first one, now Rey is making the second. Who knows what'll happen if it ignites."

"Fear not Fire Lord, your subjects still love you and still respect you as their leader, polls show that no one believes you had anything to do with Zaron's death."

"That's not the point!" the Fire Lord said throwing off his hood and glaring at the others, "Polls can be decieved. For all we know they could be lying to confuse us and make us feel overconfident. We need to quell this somehow. And yet that's not even our worst problem."

"And what is?" asked another cloaked man

"The spirits. Rey knows where they are, he was getting lucky before when he was in the Fire Nation and when he was on the run in the Earth Kingdom. But ever since the factory incident he's been a man on a mission. We have confirmation at two different sites hundreds of miles away from each other, and all signs point to him freeing the spirits that were trapped there. The one in Siraquori is a particular loss to us as we were going to use it as a rallying point for our plan going forward. Now we need to ask ourselves..."

"What the next spirit will be, any ideas Swift?" Rey called out both aloud and in his mind

"I do not know for certain Rey." answered Swift as soon as he connected them all, "I know that the area will be similar to where we are now, but that does not limit who could be there. I was not sure of Pekar until we reached the mountain cave and felt his presence. I will not know until we reach the location."

"Understood."

Rey revved the engine and continued down the path. He was still troubled about his last encounter with a spirit and was hoping that this one would be more sympathetic to their cause. He needed all the spirits he could to be on their side for he knew the worst was yet to come.

Ena, who was in the sidecar, saw Rey's hardened expression and ask, "You thinking about the spirit?"

"Yeah." he replied without looking at her

"You can't worry about this Rey. If you do, you'll start to think every spirit is like Pekar, when we know that's not true. You've met plenty of spirits who were kind and gentle and wished to help us out. Try and stay positive, ok?"

"I'll try Ena," Rey said now with a smile, "I know I can't control what's going to happen, but I wish I could. We need their help, we need all of them to save both our worlds. I just don't want to fail."

"You won't."

"And you know this how?"

"Cause I know you. You'll do whatever you can to succeed in this, you'll put all you got into it, and that'll get you to victory."

"That's very kind of you Ena."

"It's very true Rey."

"For the record...." piped in Raya, "I was going to say that because we're with you you can't fail. We're a good team, there's nothing we can't do together."

"Now I'm scared." said Rey

"Why's that?"

"First you admit we're friends, then you just said that we're a great team. Next thing you know you'll be hugging us and giving daily moral support. I don't think I can handle you being this nice Raya."

"Tch. Jerk." she said and then hit him hard in the back which caused Rey to sweve on the bike.

Rey raised his thumb and replied, "Great to have you back Raya."

The three of them laughed and continued onward. A few hours passed with no discussion. They were all anticipating what was going to happen next with the spirit. Finally they arrived at the location where the spirit was supposed to be. Just like Swift had said it was a wide open plain. The grass was very tall. There were no obvious signs of where the spirit would be. Rey looked around and tried to sense where the spirit was, but to no effect. Swift equally had no idea where the spirit was.

Now off the bike Rey set a plan into motion.

"Alright we know the spirit is somewhere around here. We'll do this systematically. We'll each take a direction and go forward until we think we've found something. Call out if you do. If anybody sees anything, hears anything, feels anything, call out. Don't take a risk, we don't know if the spirit is corrupted. Better safe than sorry."

"Agreed." acknowledged Swift, Raya and Ena also agreed and began to scout carefully.

They all had to go slow because of the grass being so tall. Rey was hoping that the spirit wasn't corrupted cause it use the grass to hide and attack without them noticing. After only a minute of traveling Rey's foot hit something. He tensed up, but relaxed as he noticed it was just a hole in the ground. It was actually a good sized hole, about 1x1 foot. He began to try and determine what kind of hole it was when he heard Ena call out.

"Hey Rey!" she cried and Rey stood back up to look at her, "I've some kind of hole here, it's pretty big!"

"Hey I found one too!" Raya shouted

"Same here." he answered them

"I too have found one." added Swift

"Please tell me this isn't another viper pit." said Raya

"No, it's not vipers." replied Rey, kneeling down to examine the hole again, "Their homes are closer together, not spread out like this. No I think this is a gopher hole, or a mole maybe."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"Famous last words Raya, famous last words."

"Ha, ha, ha."

"Let's keep going, just be careful."

For another minute they walked through the plain. Every few seconds or so one of them would call out saying they found another molehill. This confused Rey, there shouldn't be so many of them here. Let alone this spread out. He began to wonder what was going on when Swift called out.

"Rey! Look to your right!"

He did and barely caught a glimpse of an animal diving out of sight.

"What was that?" he asked

"It's over here now!" shouted Ena

Rey looked and this time got a full glimpse of the animal. It was indeed a gopher, though it was bigger than any gopher he had ever seen before. That and the fact it was glowing was a big tip off that it was the spirit they were looking for.

"Alright I think that's the spirit" he said to all of them, "stay alert and try and catch it, then get it to me. Understood?"

They all nodded and began to wait for the gopher to pop up. As they were waiting the gopher launched out of one hole and then into another before they could even react. It was lightning quick. For a few minutes all they could do is helpless watch as it jumped from one place to another. It was mind-boggling.

"This is nuts!" shouted Raya in frustration, "How are we supposed to catch this thing when it can come out of anywhere?"

Rey was trying to answer that when the depth of Raya's statement hit him. The holes where all connected, that's why it could come out of any one of them. An idea came to light.

"Ena!" he cried and she looked at him, "Are you near one of the gopher holes?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"When I give the signal blast the hole with an air current and keep it going as long as you can. The tunnels are all connected, we'll blast him out. Swift, Raya, the moment that thing gets into the air grab it or get it to me somehow."

"Understood." the two replied

"Alright Ena...now!"

Together Rey and Ena sent pulses of air through the gopher holes and the inter-connected tunnels. It took a lot of energy to keep the blast going, especially since they could feel it spreading throughout the tunnels. The tunnels themselves were enormous and complex, it was like a maze down there, and it took a few minutes to fill it all up.

But they didn't give up, and their patience was rewarded as the gopher was blasted into the air close to where Raya was. She jumped and kicked the gopher towards Rey. He let go of his air current and grabbed the spirit. It tried to get away, but Rey focused and connected with it and felt himself once again being pulled away.

"Sorry about that." a voice said and Rey opened his eyes to see the gopher staring at him, "I didn't know you where the Avatar, I've been trapped in this field for so long that my senses have been dulled."

"I understand. It was impressive how fast you were going. Your tunnel system was amazing."

"It's all I could do to pass the time. My name is Cherena by the way. The humble gopher spirit."

"I am Rey, the somewhat humble Avatar."

"Please, don't sell yourself short. You are very humble, and clever. But I sense you are not complete. So I guess I get to answer the question you're about to ask."

"What question?"

"Easy." said Cherena, "Where...."

"Is he going next?"

The Fire Lord looked around at his brothers as they began to confer with one another.

"If we can find out where he's going next we can stop him once and for all."

"I think I know where he is going, if I may be allowed to speak."

A man stood up and looked at the others, the Fire Lord's blood boiled as he recognized not only who he was, but who's spot he was occupying.

"You may not speak Jonn Hithan! It's because of you that we are in this position in the first place!"

Jonn removed his hood and had his usual grin on his face, "Really? How is this my fault?"

"Like you don't know. It's because of you that the Avatar knows of our plan to drain the spirits of their energy and to wipe them all out. It's clear he's doing all this traveling to free the spirits so that we can't harm them any furthur. For all we know every time he sets a spirit free he gets another on his side. His army grows while ours grows weaker."

"Weaker? Weaker? Are you kidding? Do you even know what's in your own nation?" said Jonn Hithan with a smirk

"I know exactly what's in my home."

"Then why are you so worried? Yes, the spirits are being freed, but do you realize how long it's been since they've been trapped? More to the point we still have plenty of spirits under our watchful eyes giving us their energy. In fact I think three are still in the Fire Nation being drained as we speak. And as for our army, we've never been stronger. The Avatar has no idea our numbers and strength. He has only had but a taste our capabilities when he fled from Tyro's party. If the fool had only brought more the Avatar would be caught."

"Don't you dare insult Tyro! He was a loyal man, and it's his spot that you're sitting in, so be respectful! Tyro was trying to maintain our cover by only bringing in one tank. If he had brought in a battalion of them it would've raised suspicion. And don't think you're clear of guilt as well. Lest you forget you had the Avatar if you clutches and yet he still escaped. You even had three of the ambassadors, all skilled benders, at your side and he still got away."

Jonn was not amused, "That was hardly my fault, I took every precaution to make sure Rey could not fight back. He took three tranq darts to the chest, I had him drugged, beaten, and tortured. In fact I did all three of those things myself. I could not have forseen what Raya and...and Ena were going to do. And even then we beat them both and had victory in our hands, then all of a sudden Rey stands up and is in the Avatar State. How could we stop that?"

"I'm sure you could've thought of something Jonn. After all you're supposed to be the greatest assasssin in the world."

Jonn growled but then grunted, "Fair enough. And I do take responsibility for what happened with Rey which is why I haven't been to the last meeting despite my induction into the group. But now that I am back I will tell you what I told everyone else. We CANNOT underestimate Rey, and now we can add his allies to that statement. To underestimate any of them would be a grave mistake. Rey's power is growing. Our source in Siraquori said he transformed into something to stop that corrupted spirit. If he can do this at will we have to be ready."

"Which all falls back to my original question. Where is he going next?"

"And as I said, I think I know where he is going."

"And that is where exactly?"

"He's the Avatar, but he's not fully there yet. He has to go and learn one more element, and to do that he can only go to a few places. Fewer still have a spirit in the vicinity. And so based on his current location, via our spies and lookouts, I would say he's going to be going to...."

"The North Pole? That's where you want me to go?"

"I know you don't want to hear this Avatar, but you must complete your training. I can tell you are good with Earth, Fire, and Air, but you must learn Water to be complete, in more ways than one."

"I don't have time to learn it Cherena. I could take the time to learn Fire because I wasn't in danger, Ena was with us so I could learn Airbending, but we don't have a Waterbender in our group. And even though I was eventually going to go to the North Pole, it was so I could free the spirit there. I can't stay there and try and find a master all the while trying to hide who I am, I'll get caught."

"It is a risk you must take. The Avatar must be able to control all four elements. More to the point you can only truly harness the Avatar State once you have all four. I can tell you've used it before, but there's a string attached correct?"

"Yeah, I have to focus and ask for it."

"Korra's doing no doubt. But to truly be able to use it, and use it at will you must master all four elements. If for no other reason....don't you think it's time you learned to heal yourself? I can tell you've been injured a lot."

Rey laughed, "Yeah...comes with the territory."

"Yes it does, and that's why Water is important. You can still free the spirit up there, make no mistake you need to do that, but take some time and find a master to train you."

"Ok, ok, you win." said Rey with obvious disapproval

"Such disdain, why is that?"

"Sorry it's just the last time I met a spirit they were.....less than kind."

"I see." said Cherena and she glared at Rey as if to see something that wasn't there before, she then scoffed, "Oh, Pekar. Yeah he's a stubborn old goat. Very temperamental, willing to hold a grudge for an eternity, and then another one after that. I hate to tell you this but you'll probably meet another like him. There have been many of us who were hurt by humans, and not just the ones from now, nor the ones from long ago. Humans and spirits have long had a tumultuous relationship over time. But you can fix it all and set it right Avatar. If you'll give us a chance, we'll give you the same."

"Thanks Cherena, I will."

"To bring you some comfort I tell you this, the spirit at the North Pole is a gentle spirit. He has roamed the north in peace for a very long time and will help you if you should need it."

"You're not going to tell me who he is are you?"

"Why ruin the surprise?" said the gopher with a smile, "Goodbye Avatar."

"Goodbye Cherena, and please call me Rey next time!"

A white light filled his sight and began to return to his world.

"The North Pole? Makes sense. So what do we do?" asked the Fire Lord

"As it so happens we already have agents from both of our parties already there." said Jonn Hithan an air confidence now in him

"And that would be who exactly?"

"Our dear Ambassador Kamaria is already there. Ironically, because of your earlier point of being exposed by the reporter. However because of her ties to the tribe she, like you, is free of most suspicion. She volunteered to stay there for a while to help build good will."

"She always was clever. Who else is there?"

"I recieved intel recently that one of Rey's supporters had returned to the North Pole and is currently living there. For what reason we weren't sure, but word is that he is spreading tales of Rey's exploits to the people and trying and gain support for him. To make sure he doesn't cause too much of a racket I sent some of my best men up there to watch him and find out who he's talking to. All they need is my order to kill him. I'll just have them delay that mission and have them wait for the Avatar where the spirit is trapped. We'll let Kamaria know as well so that when the Avatar is captured she can take credit for it and give us the edge to complete the plan."

"I'm impressed Jonn, it's well thought out."

"Yes well we need to talk about that actually. The best part of a well thought out plan is a contingency. And though I have faith in our people we, again, must not underestimate Rey. If he somehow escapes we can all guess where he's going to go next."

"The Fire Nation."

"The Fire Nation. No doubt to free the spirits that are there and get some payback on you. If that happens we must be ready to go through with our...backup plan."

The men at once began to discuss to the ones near them. The backup plan was only to be used only when no other options were available to them. It was a shock and awe plan, and it could only be used once.

"I don't like it." said the Fire Lord angrily, "We don't need to do it."

"If the Avatar gets any closer to stopping us we'll have to. We need to move faster, we need to escalate things. You don't like the plan because of how it affects you. But this is about all of us. We as members of The Conspiracy must think about the greater good. We have a plan, we were going to wait and slowly fulfill it like you have done before. But now we have a problem. Rey is doing everything in his power to stop us. We need to do what must be done, else this is all meaningless. We can't just go through the motions anymore. What say you sir?"

Jonn turned to one of the others specifically. The Fire Lord looked to him as well, apprehension now his expression.

The man was silent for a long time then stood up and address the others.

In a low voice he spoke, "We have come too far to fail now. If the Avatar comes to the Fire Nation...prepare the backup plan. We'll make our stand then."

One by one the others agreed until it was only the Fire Lord left, he reluctantly replied, "Fine. So be it. We'll do it your way Jonn. But if this doesn't work like it should, if your 'shock and awe' doesn't bring the desired result. You'll answer to me."

Jonn smirked, "I look forward to it."

The man from before spoke, "Then it is settled. Let us go, we need to prepare for the future."

Rey soon returned to the world and found himself surrounded by the others. He shook himself awake and felt the feeling return to his body.

"Well?" asked Raya, "What now Rey?"

He looked at them all and smiled, "Hope we have some warm clothing in the bike, we're going to the North Pole."

*credits*

Chapter 9 Preview: A two part epic begins. What starts as a simple mission quickly goes sour. And when the chips are down you won't believe who comes to Rey's rescue. Click here to begin the tale!

Rey was flying down the road on the way to the next spirit to be freed. But though he was focused he couldn't help but feel himself wander back to what Pekar said to him.

"Fine, do what you must Avatar. But know that even if you free us all, I will not stand with you. Your kind has caused too much pain. I will not take part in whatever is to come."

What if the other spirits were like this in thought? Rey, Raya, Ena, and Swift were risking everything to try and free the spirits, because they knew they needed to be freed not only to get their help but to put a huge dent in The Conspiracy's plan. But what if the rest decided not to help? What if at the end of their quest the spirits went back on their word and decided not to assist Rey? Would they abandon the human world altogther like they wanted to do so long ago?

The thought troubled Rey. Even though he knew not all would do such a thing, he could not deny the fact that his allies among the spirits were few, and thus could be outvoted if it came to that. Could they be trusted keep their word?

Rey tried to shake off the thought of them betraying him and tried to think of something else. Unfortunately that 'something else' quickly became The Conspiracy. What were they up to? He technically hadn't gone up against them since he was captured by Jonn Hithan. And to his knowledge the only ally that was doing any damage against them was Vivian. It killed him on the inside to think that they weren't going after them head on like before, he wanted to get them so badly, but he knew that the spirits were just as important. Or at least he continued to make himself believe that.

But what was The Conspiracy up to now? Surely they would need to make a move soon, what would it be? Would they try and take him out? Try and prevent another spirit from being freed? Would they go after his allies? His family? What was next for them?

The questions began to mount and Rey forced himself to refocus on the road and he realized he was in an open plain. He looked around and saw a beautiful landscape and noticed that it dipped down into a little valley. In the valley he noticed a small bed of water and a waterfall next to it. Rey knew what he had to do, both for fun, and for his sanity.

Rey redirected the bike and headed towards the valley, it only took a few minutes to get there and once he was within range he slammed on the brakes and the bike screeched to a halt. Without a single word he got off and made for the water.

The girls and Swift, the latter of which who had been running alongside, were perplexed at what Rey was doing.

"What's going on Rey?" asked Raya

"I'm taking the day off." he said casually

"We can't do that Rey," said Ena still perplexed, "we have to get to the next spirit."

With serious intent he turned around and held his arms out wide.

"Yeah, and then we go to the next spirit, and the next one, and the next one, and then once that's all done we have to go after The Conspiracy again. When does it stop? Answer? It doesn't. Look at us. Seriously look at us!"

The girls and Swift looked at one another and realized what he was talking about.

"We have going non-stop for who knows how long. Doing one thing or another, always looking ahead to the next destination. And then when something happens we don't have time to digest it and get past it. We just...stow it away until it's just something we ignore. Look at what's happened to us in the last few days alone. I'm almost killed by a corrupted spirit, Ena has to fight the Assassins Guild and one of her old friends, Raya was attacked by Nightfuries, and then to top it all off I almost got buried in a landslide, and me and Swift get chewed out by a spirit. It's too much! We need a day to ourselves, to have fun, to talk, to decompress. If we keep going like this we're going to crack. I'm already showing the signs, maybe you are too. So I'm declaring that today is our day off. One day to ourselves. And the first thing I'm going to do is to go swimming. Bye."

And with that Rey turned around walked towards the lake bed, took off his shirt and bands and simply walked into the water until he was totally emersed.

"He totally just did that." said Ena shocked

"What did you expect from him? To not do that?" replied Raya with a smirk

"He is right you know, we really haven't had a chance to unwind. It has been really stressful recently, for all of us."

"Yeah, we've been through a lot. And even during the downtime we did have, we didn't do much. It's just like he said, we just kept focused on the mission, and I guess we are suffering because of it."

"Yeah." said Ena throughtfully then a small smile popped on her face, "So...should we go join him?"

Raya laughed, "Let's give him a few minutes to himself, let him clear his head. Then we can ambush him and show we like to have fun as well."

"Perfect."

Swift hadn't said a word, he smiled though and laid peacefully on the grass next to the lake.

Down in the water, Rey allowed himself to sink to the bottom. He just let the water consume him and clear his thoughts. It reminded him of when he was healed by Kalmeyon, a purifying experience that allowed him to free himself of a great burden. His memories flashed back to his youth when he would do a similar thing to see how long he could hold his breath. At first he couldn't do it for very long, but after a while he was able to hold his breath for several minutes. This allowed him to be very successful at hide-and-seek cause he would simply hide in a stream or lake and only come up every few minutes for air before sinking back down into the water.

Once he felt the need for air he simply let go and slowly rose to the surface. Now above the water he took in some deep breaths to replenish his lungs. Rey then looked around to see where the girls were. He thought they should join him. To his surprise however he only saw Swift, who was lying down next to the lake.

"Hey, were'd the girls go?" he asked the wolf

Swift raised his head and said simply, "Up."

Rey was about to ask a follow-up when he heard a couple of shouts from above and he looked up to see Ena and Raya falling towards him. They each landed with a splash near Rey and when they popped up they were both laughing.

"Nice entrance ladies." he said to them still in disbelief at what they did

"It was her idea." said Ena pointing at Raya, "She said it would be the best way to surprise you."

"Well you did that Raya, nice job."

"Thank you, thank you." said Raya boastfully and she started bowing to a fake audience, "I said to myself, 'how can I shock Rey the most?', and the answer I came up with was jumping off the waterfall. And it worked, you should've seen the look on the face when we came careening towards you."

"Yeah well it's my turn now to get you." said Rey with a smirk, "Watch this."

Rey again plunged beneath the water and while under it he used his Airbending to rocket himself into the air, causing water to hit both Raya and Ena. He soared for a few seconds then once he felt himself being pulled back down he began to spin and created an air missile and shot down towards the water. The impact of the his move created a huge wave that pushed both Raya and Ena back towards the edge of the lake and almost back onto land itself. When Rey emerged it was him who was laughing this time.

"Beat that." he said tauntingly

"Oh it's on." said Raya competition now fueling her

"Let's go." agreed Ena and the two went right after Rey with a fury

"Catch me if you can!" Rey shouted as he re-submerged himself under the water

The girls went underwater and spotted Rey, they immediately went after him an swam as fast as they could to do so. Rey didn't make it easy on them and continually out manuvered them. Even though they tried to trap him numerous times he always seemed to slip away. Out of breath the girls went topside and tried to formulate a plan.

"Any ideas?" asked Raya catching her breath

"I'll chase him and try and lure him to where you are, don't make it obvious though, try and hide and then when we get close grab him." answered Ena

"Done."

A noise came from behind them and when they looked there was Rey smiling, "You already giving up?"

"Never!" shouted Ena and the two went back underwater and the chase began anew

This time though both Rey and Ena used Airbending and raced through the water at high speeds in their air missiles. Rey dodged and weaved throughout as Ena followed in close pursuit. A few times Rey feinted where he was going to go next and thus Ena went the wrong way and had to play catchup. But Ena didn't give up and eventually put her plan into play.

She poured on the power and raced to get close to Rey. He tried to get out of her range but she kept it close. What he didn't know was that she was leading him into a trap. Once he was in range Raya suddenly appeared in front of him. Rey was forced to stop in order to not collide with her. She grabbed one of Rey's arms and Ena, now caught up, grabbed the other and blasted all three of them out of the water. They all landed on the ground with a thud. At first they all groaned from the pain of the landing, but soon they couldn't help but laugh at themselves.

Rey was the first to speak, "Ok, ok, you win. Can't believe you got me."

"Girl power." said Raya raising her arm in victory

"Oh yeah." agreed Ena doing the same

"Yeah, yeah," groaned Rey, "well that was fun."

"Sure was, what now?"

"Well Ena, our little underwater escapade gave me an idea. Let's do an air sphere race."

"That's a great idea. But what about Raya?"

"I'll be the judge, that way we know who the winner is." said Raya drying herself off

"Well thank you very much Raya, that's very kind of you. So how long should the race be Ena?"

Ena looked out across the plain for any kind of significant landmark. The only thing that was really around was the waterfall and the lake. So she improvised.

"How bout three laps around the lake? And that includes the waterfall."

"Sounds like fun. Let's do it."

They let themselves rest for a few minutes, but then Rey and Ena squared off at the edge of the lake. Each of them had ther air spheres ready and were anxiously waiting for Raya to give the signal to go.

"Ready? Set? Go!" she said and with a motion the two were off

Rey and Ena raced off and headed up the hill towards the waterfall. Once there they skidded over the water and raced back down to the lake. At the end of the first lap they were neck and neck for the lead. They both increased speed for lap two and shot up to the waterfall faster than the first time, and again raced to the lakeside. It was still all tied up at the third lap when Ena tried to cut Rey off, but he was ready for it. He focused and used his Airbending to shoot over Ena and land right in front of her. This startled her and made her slow down allow Rey to cross the finish line and win the race.

Primed from his victory Rey raised his fists in triumph. Ena wasn't happy that he won but congratulated him. Rey commented her on a good race.

"So what now?" asked Raya

"You know what?" answered Rey, "I say we just relax."

And with a smile Rey fell backwards onto the ground and just enjoyed being on the grass. Raya and Ena shrugged and carefully got onto the ground as well. Swift even decided to join them and sat next to Rey.

They didn't talk for a very long time. Each of them just laid there, eyes closed, enjoying the quietness of the area. The wind gently blew throughout the open plain. Each of them flashed back to points in their lives where they just sat back enjoyed nature like this. Rey thought back to his many times back home when he would go into the forest and explore. Sometimes though he would just climb a tree and lay in the canopy and sleep, not a care in the world. He missed those times.

Ena drifted back to when she was young and her father took her to this secluded little spot in Republic City. It was just a little area full of green, but it was peaceful and the two would just lay on the grass and talk about whatever came to mind. Sometimes her other family members would join her and they would play games similar to the ones she just did with Rey and Raya. She wished her mother was here now.

Raya admittedly didn't think much about her childhood as she laid on the grass. But instead her mind went through her memories and remembered one day where she was bored and decided to climb to the top of the temple back home in the Fire Nation. She had never done so before and thus was curious as to what she would see. When she reached the top she was amazed that she could see the entire city in full view. And as if she was meant to be there then, the sun was setting and it bathed the buildings in a most beautiful light. It was amazing.

Swift recalled all the wonders he had seen since he had been created. He had seen the best that both worlds had to offer. He often wondered at times which world was more beautiful. Each had their places of sheer beauty, after all, the spirits inhabited both worlds and many chose to live in the human world because of such beauty. And among his travels with Rey and the others he got to city more and more beautiful places. He wondered what else he would see before this was all over.

As each of them thought of their own things they couldn't help but start to think of what brought them to this moment. All the trials and struggles that seemed to build up until this moment of peace was needed.

Ena opened her eyes and turned towards Rey, "Hey Rey?"

"Yeah Ena." he replied not opening his eyes

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Besides the one you just asked? Sure."

Ena laughed but continued, "I've been meaning to ask, why did you act so weirdly on the mountain? You know, before we met the benders. You acted kind of weird, and then when the rockslide happened you seemed like you gave up once you saw the rocks coming towards you. You had a look of acceptance, it was unusual for you. Why did you act like that?"

Rey slowly opened his eyes and let out a deep sigh, "My father died in a rockslide similar to the one we were in."

Ena gasped, she now regretted asking the question. Raya, who hadn't been paying attention now sat on her side and focused on Rey.

"My father was a builder, he often went to other villages and helped build new homes and stuff like that. One day, they were doing construction in the mountains and they were using charges to help carve out the rock. Well one of the charges went off in the wrong place and caused a rockslide. My father was closest and held up the boulders long enough for the workers and villagers to get to safety. Much like what happened to me. The boulders were too big and heavy to be moved, and so my fathers' strength was slowly drained until he was forced to let go and he was crushed by the boulders. So when I saw that something eerily similar was happening to me, I flashed back to my father and thought of what he went through. Looking back I realized I could've used the Avatar State to get out of the situation, but I was thinking about my father so much that I forgot I could do it. If it wasn't for the Mountainbenders, I'd be dead."

Rey closed his eyes and went back to his meditative state, he hadn't talked about his father like this in a long time. Ena was deeply upset at what she had caused Rey to go through just then.

"I'm sorry Rey." said Ena apologetically, "I didn't know."

"It's ok Ena, it's better you all knew. I should've told you sooner cause it might've prevented what happened."

The group again went silent, Ena though was still upset and wanted to make things right with Rey. Since he was so honest with her it was only right that she be honest with him.

"Rey?"

"Yeah?"

"I haven't exactly been honest with you about what happened in Scear."

"What do you mean?"

"The whole thing with Neun and the assassins, it was really hard for me to deal with..."

She fidgeted in place as she recalled what happened, Rey looked at her with honest eyes and it allowed her to continue.

"...It was more than that though. During the battle I proclaimed to Neun how I didn't want any part of the Assassins Guild anymore, that it didn't matter what they said, I wouldn't join them. But in all honesty--"

"You were tempted?"

"Very tempted. I held my ground on that day because I knew that you were counting on me to help get Vivian out of the city, that's what allowed me to say those things with such conviction. But afterwards, all I could think was, 'Did I do the right thing?'"

"And what did you tell yourself?"

"That I did, that you guys were more important to me than the guild. But even though I said that, and believed it, the thought still lingered. That's why I was more of a recluse after that, I couldn't bring myself to face you two with those thoughts in my head. It felt like I was betraying you."

Rey looked at Ena with sincerity and said, "You did nothing wrong Ena. We were the ones who took you away from your life suddenly. I'm not surprised that you have those thoughts, they were your family for a long time, and then all of a sudden you had to question everything about them. That's a lot for anyone to take deal with. I'm sorry we had to put you in that position, and when another one like it comes forward just let me know if you don't want to deal with it."

"Thanks Rey." Ena replied with a smile, "But as long as I have you guys, I should be fine."

Again the group went quiet, but this time Raya was the one who's mind was racing, it was rare that she opened up about her feelings but after what happened with the Nightfuries it seemed prudent to talk about it.

"The Nightfuries scared the daylights out of me." she said suddenly, Rey and Ena sat up in surprise to pay attention to her

"Really?" asked Rey

"It wasn't just the illusions of you guys torturing me that made it terrible. It was seeing my father disappointed in me. He said everything I was afraid of ever since we left the Fire Nation. Every doubt I had he spoke of, and the look on his face, even though it wasn't real, was spot on to him. It was unnerving. But that wasn't the worst part."

"What could've been worse than that?" asked Ena

"Seeing my mother. She tried to speak to me but I couldn't hear her. Her lips were moving but nothing came out. I still don't understand why that was."

"I do." said Rey who had admitted to Raya earlier that he had been a victim of a Nightfury attack, "Nightfuries base their attacks on the memories of their victims. You told me once that you never met your mother cause she died in childbirth. That your father had to show you a picture of her just so you would know what she looked like. Because of those things you wouldn't have known what she sounded like. You've never heard her voice. They realized that and used it against you."

A shiver went up Raya's spine and she began to rub her arms in an attempt to warm herself up, she then whispered to herself "Monsters"

"Yeah they are. But you beat them, that's the important thing."

"Yeah. Look I hate change topics but what happened in the cave? I know you freed the spirit but you said you got chewed out by it and you acted vague and distant when Nard asked about it. What happened?"

"I shall answer this one," said Swift who spoke for the first time in a while, "The spirit, who's name is Pekar told me and Rey bluntly that even if Rey freed all the spirits that he would not help us. He blames humans for a lot of things, not the least of which was his capture and being sealed in the Spirit World. And though Rey, as we know, is nothing like the evil ones in the world...Pekar doesn't care."

"So that's what caused all this to happen." said Ena now piecing it all together

"Yep." replied Rey, "I just couldn't stop asking myself if I could trust the spirits, even though I know I could. The questions just continued to mount so I had to take a break."

"It's certainly a possibility." answered the wolf, "As I told Rey, not all the spirits will be so willing to join our cause. We've been lucky so far, and some I honestly didn't expect to join, like Pekar, or even Shorin. We just have to keep an open mind and hope that our actions speak louder than our words."

All four then sank back to the ground and all thought about what their journey would be like going forward. They knew that they had to travel a long ways still til they were done. Who knew what would await them on their journey? Rey, again tired from thinking such things, decided to break up the silence.

"Who's hungry?"

"I am." said Ena and Raya at the same time

Rey started a fire and prepared a meal for all four of them. As they ate and sat around the fire they began to tell stories and legends that their families had passed down through the generations. Many of them were about benders of great power or wisdom, some were about spirits and they tried to get Swift to tell them if any of those stories were true. He didn't give them any definitive answers, mainly smirks and laughs.

The rest of day consisted of them just enjoying themselves and thinking of things to do. They played games and told stories, they even had some friendly sparring matches to keep their skills sharp. They ate another hearty meal and enjoyed each others company more than they ever had before.

Finally, as the day grew on they got their bags and slowly went to sleep. Rey was the last one to do so. His mind was always slow to rest for he always thought about the events of the day. As he felt himself drift he smiled and thought about how happy he was that he stopped and decided to relax. How he would've been so much worse off if he hadn't.

And he knew that as long as he lived he could look back at this day and say: He was happy, and at peace.

*credits*

Chapter 8 Preview: The cogs begin to turn! See what the future holds for both Rey and The Conspiracy! Click here to see it all unfold!